So this has been a weekend loaded with activities I attended haphazrdly. The Kowloon City Bookfair, which is running its 6th annual leg, finally fit into my junky, over-the-head, boisterous music-by-the-habourfront weekend. Organised by young literary connoisseurs, back by a creativity-oriented high school, a think tank, etc., the bookfair is a mélange of talks, roundtables, flea market, mini-bookfair and a mini-concert. Free of charge to everybody, coarse but ever-evolving, it’s what this overcrowded and over-developped city needs if Hong Kong were to slow down and smell some roses, or fresh air!

Thanks to a random gift of kindness, I set foot in West Kowloon waterfront for Clockenflap, probably the last time in a while by the West Kowloon waterfront since constructions will be swung into actions in the coming years.

My previous impression of this “music festival” has been some gweilos replicating rock concerts spiced with burning man. Upon entering I was upset with the overfloated plastic recycle bin with all types of trash. A day later however, a politically charged performance by “my little airport” sort of eased my displeasure. Well, in a non-perfect world, room for improvement is the key!

Is China entering entering the new taiwan dollar era? No, I ain’t asking for your defaction nor showing any signs of habouring one myself. The reference is with respect to the soaring food prices in the past few years. Certain alimentary necessities have increased the price by as much as 40% over a short period of two years. Even though salaries for the lower segments of society are climbing as well, I don’t think they match that of inflation or simple greed of merchants, big names or small neighbourhood store. My dirt-cheap vegetarian lunch box used to cost me 6￥ a year ago, now it costs 8￥. I wouldn’t even calculate for you the depressing mathematics, unless the increase is the interest rate they are paying me for my deposits at the bank, which ISN’T. Enough wishful thinking!

Photos: menu at this humble resto has few things to offer for less than 10￥, hence the New Taiwan Dollar reference.

That was the post title I had in mind a year ago on 31 July 2012 when Gore Vidal took the elevator to heaven. The London Olympics were in full force and I remembered seeing Freddie Mercury (no, I wasn’t hallucinating), the Queen Elizabeth II and George Michael somewhere, somehow during the opening ceremonies. Mix that with Vidal and you know how the mathematics worked out.

I’ve watched more video interviews, documentaries on VIdal than I’ve read his books. Nevertheless, his wit and elegance perfused in the media forms by and about him. Here are some of his quotes.

Our state of affairs:

As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.

On being a Queen perhaps:

Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.

On democracy:

Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.

The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism. From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as the Old Testament, three anti-human religions have evolved—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These are sky-god religions. They are, literally, patriarchal—God is the Omnipotent Father—hence the loathing of women for 2,000 years in those countries afflicted by the sky-god and his earthly male delegates. The sky-god is a jealous god, of course. He requires total obedience from everyone on earth, as he is not just in place for one tribe, but for all creation. Those who would reject him must be converted or killed for their own good. Ultimately, totalitarianism is the only sort of politics that can truly serve the sky-god’s purpose.

I really preferred this ONN particular Queen I wrote about among the four.

Newbies aren’t necessarily better than the oldies. I had no idea that Nancy Sinatra had this number in the Sixties that looks so seductive after almost half a century, even though she looked way more matured than what I digged up about the record producer had in mind. Nevertheless, one CAN’T show more legs if the girls are at least clothed. Something so racy got tuned down or even sounded light-heartedly innocent in the French version, if you neglect the lyrics. The Jessica Simpson version, which I learnt about only thru google and youtube, could help psychology students to research on modernity, (de/over)-sensitisation, and perhaps, perversion in our days! The boots must not be working that well!